hi rodent
how r u, i read your post, you have an awesome score of 95, so i am sure you are a sharp and intelligent person and of high caliber. and i agree with you nationality matters is some schools and competition is high amongst indians with schools like upenn. and i believe it is unfair but we must understand that they want diversity.........i have applied to all the schools offering advanced standing or spaced based programs in US and got 3 interviews and one acceptance so far , i am probably one of the fewest people with very avg stats on sdn to get in a program.and i am indian.
so i think it is best to have high scores, over 90 is definitely very good. but work exp matters a lot in most schools ,both in home country and in US, also if you have any other education in the US, i had 2 yrs work exp in india and 2 yrs in US, that helped me reach where i am.also SOP ,resume is very important , and so are clinical skills if your interview also has a clinical portion.most important is how one presents himself at the interview and shows clarity in thought and speech.......a personal interview brings out the diff between being accepted or not being accepted.
but at the same time there are schools that wunt accept gpa less than 3, there are schools that want diversity, so being indian there is a disadvantage unless you beat it with high score or somthing in your resume.some schools take only GC holders, while some lay emphasis on clinical work, so one has to see what is in favor of us.........there are so many criteria for acceptance and they are diff for every school, so one has to see where you fit in and hav a max chance.
with your awesome score and gpa i dunt think there should be a reason why you wudnt get in BU or NYU..........of course you wud hav a good chance elsewhere too.GOOD LUCK
